Question

Compounds such as alcohols and glucose also contain hydrogen but are not categorized as acids. Describe an activity to prove it.

Answer 1

Two nails are fixed on a cork and placed in a 100 mL beaker.
The nails are then connected to two terminals of a 6-volt battery along with a bulb and a switch.
A little amount of dilute HCl is poured into the beaker and current is allowed to pass through the circuit.
The same experiment is then performed using glucose solution and alcohol solution.
Observations:
It is observed that the bulb glows in HCl solution and does not glow with the glucose or alcohol solution.


Conclusion:

HCl ionizes into ${\text{H}}^{+}$ and ${\text{Cl}}^{-}$ ions. These ions conduct electricity in the solution which results in the glowing of the bulb. On the other hand, glucose or alcohol does not break into ions. Therefore do not conduct electricity.